Inflatable tourniquet cuffs are commonly used in the medical industry. Due to the potential for soiling the tourniquet cuff during a medical procedure, tourniquet cuffs are often discarded as medical waste following the procedure. This has led to the increased popularity of disposable inflatable tourniquet cuffs.
A typical disposable inflatable tourniquet cuff comprises an inflatable bladder contained within an outer covering. Due to the tendency of the bladder to balloon during inflation, a piece of stiffening material is typically placed between the outer covering and an outer side of the bladder opposite the patient's limb. The stiffening material prevents the cuff from ballooning outwardly or obtaining a circular cross-section and possibly rolling or becoming twisted during use.
Two examples of disposable inflatable tourniquet cuffs that utilize a stiffening member are U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,735 to Hazlewood, issued Jun. 20, 1972, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,953 to Spence, issued Dec. 25, 1990. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,758 to Glover, issued Apr. 13, 1993, a flexible covering is attached to a stiff backing plate and an inflatable bladder is positioned therebetween.
The prior art tourniquet cuffs noted above are relatively expensive due not only to the cost of the stiffeners and the covering material, but also to the relatively complex labor intensive process required to assemble these separate components into a tourniquet cuff. Furthermore, the stiffeners and the covering material only add to an already overwhelming amount of medical waste when they are disposed along with the bladder at the conclusion of the medical treatment.
It is with regard to this background information that the improvements available from the present invention have evolved.